Wow!

I'm trying to remember how to do this!  I might need to go back to a tutorial to get this blog post done right!
We've experienced a lot since the year 2020 arrived, and I have been pretty quiet about it in this format.  So I've got some catching up to do!
We've been traveling to so many new places, then scuttling home to stay safe as the awareness of what was coming with the coronavirus became very clear.  So we did shorten our planned travel by a couple weeks, but we still had 2 ½ months of the worst part of Minnesota winter behind us!  We enjoyed our travel with our Airstream so much, she's just right for us!  Click on the "Read More" below to read more of my story.

Sailing across a sea of sand in Monahans Sandhills State Park in northern Texas, near Odessa. We liked this spot even though it was just a one night stand!

My intention with writing today is to share something we have been enjoying during our stay-at-home time.  We have been looking for new recipes to try out, things that we don't normally cook for ourselves.  I think we kind of get in a rut with our home cooking, relying on a worthy selection of favorites.  But, we have found some new faves!  We have pulled our cookbooks from the cabinet and browsed a few online spots to test drive some new choices.  Most have made it into the category of "I would make this again and again".  
What I'm sharing today is something that is a longtime favorite, but adjusted to suit my non-dairy needs.  I love Creamy Chicken Wild Rice Soup, but can only risk a couple spoons of it at any restaurant, due to the first word in the name of the recipe!  So, I've been sorting through online places to get something I can prepare and eat for myself.  This particular recipe comes from a website called Cooking Up Clean.

This is not a photo of my own soup, it's from the Cooking Up Clean website.

I'm adding my own notes to this delicious recipe:
Creamy Non-Dairy Chicken Wild Rice Soup
Serves 8 or so, we had enough for the next day plus a couple servings to freeze.
1 ½ pounds chicken breast meat, about 4 cups raw and diced.  I used frozen breast pieces.
4-8 slices of all natural uncured bacon, raw and diced.  I only had 5 strips of your standard cured bacon on hand, so that's what I used.  I think she is calling for actual side pork, a product that you don't see very often unless you are a pork producer or have connections!
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 celery stalks, diced
3 carrots, diced - or a couple handfuls of those little ready-to-eat baby carrots
3 garlic cloves, or more depending on size.  My cloves range from bitsy to big chunks, so I estimate.
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup wild rice, rinsed
2 quarts chicken broth, I used the purchased boxes of low-sodium
2 cups water
1 cup unsweetened non-dairy milk, I used Lactaid brand
½ cup flour - use gluten free if you need that for your diet
2 green onions, sliced for garnish
salt to taste

Use a soup pot to heat up the olive oil and then brown the bacon pieces.  Remove bacon from pan with a slotted spoon and then add the chicken pieces to brown in the bacon fat.  They don't have to cook clear through, but the outside should all be white with a little brown.  Remove the chicken with a slotted spoon and put it with the bacon pieces.  Now, using the the juices that have collected in the soup pot, saute the following:  onion, celery, carrots and garlic.  Season with the poultry seasoning and pepper.  When the vegies have begun to soften, add the chicken and bacon along with the uncooked wild rice, chicken stock and water.  Adjust the heat to simmer about 45 minutes or until rice is tender.  Make a mixture of the milk and flour, whisking thoroughly to break up any lumps.  Add mixture to the soup pot, stirring as you pour to prevent lumps from forming.  Stir and heat until the soup is starting to thicken.  Add salt to taste.  Serve with green onions to garnish.

​I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!